


until eternity (till we die)

by daelighthwi



Series: The Adventures of PD101S2 [5]
Category: JBJ (Band), MXM (Band), Produce 101 (TV), Wanna One (Band)
Genre: M/M, but pls dont read if you get upset at the mention of death, i didnt really describe violence, like sewoon's just mentioned, one person dies
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-14
Updated: 2017-09-14
Packaged: 2018-12-25 13:41:52
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,593
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12037071
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/daelighthwi/pseuds/daelighthwi
Summary: Daniel meets Seongwoo on the wrong side of the battlefield.





	until eternity (till we die)

**Author's Note:**

> let us pretend for the sake of this fic that daniel cannot speak korean (but seongwoo can speak english)

===== ★ =====

 

There's a strange calm in the chaos, Seongwoo muses. Amidst the stammering gunfire around him, he can hear his heartbeat thundering in his ears, his arms seem to move in slow motion to support his rifle as he aims, steadies himself, and fires. Someone on the enemy lines goes down, and the peace is shattered. He rolls sideways, narrowly dodging the rain of bullets around him. 

He meets someone's eyes on the other side, an enemy soldier, brown hair sweeping into his eyes. Seongwoo sees himself reflected in the soldier's eyes, he sees the unwillingness to be there and the fear that thrums through his entire being. He raises his rifle unwillingly, taking aim shakily as his finger tightens on the trigger.

"Hey." An arm is tugging hard around his bicep, pulling him to his feet. "Seongwoo, we have to go." Youngmin's unnaturally pale and his lips are set in a straight line, there's blood staining his uniform and Seongwoo stares at it listlessly. Is that his? Or maybe another teammate's? 

"I haven't run out of ammunition yet. Wait," Seongwoo crawls back onto his stomach and pulls up his rifle. "I can take a few more soldiers out." 

"I can wait, but Sewoon can't." Youngmin's pulling insistently on his rifle. "He's hurt. He took a bullet for me, the idiot.  _Please_ , can we go?" 

Seongwoo blinks. He hadn't realised Sewoon's life was on the line. Youngmin sounds so calm and collected, but if Seongwoo listens hard enough, there's a slight tremble in his voice and his hands are clammy from where he has started to pull on Seongwoo's hand. "Okay, let's go." He breathes, rising to his feet quickly. They both duck through long grass, running and occasionally stopping to peer over their shoulders to check if any enemy soldier has followed them thus far, and picking up pace when they're sure that it's safe. They stop by a tree hollow, where Sewoon's normally calm face is wrought with pain.

"You imbecile," Youngmin is cursing, checking the tourniquet around Sewoon's leg, "How could you do that for me?" 

"Hyung, it's nothing. We're friends," Sewoon laughs through gritted teeth, "You would have done the same." 

Seongwoo ruffles his hair affectionately. "Come on Sewoon, we have to get you to Donghyun. He'll patch you up. Can you stand?" They help Sewoon to his feet, and together, they hobble-jump back to camp. Donghyun meets them out front, taking Sewoon from them, surprising them again with his strength. Despite his skinny frame, Donghyun is deceptively strong, and this is proven again when he simply sweeps Sewoon into his arms bridal style and runs into the medic's tent to remove the bullet and disinfect the wound.

"Do you have any wounds?" Youngmin asks, pushing his sweaty bangs from his forehead and giving Seongwoo a once-over. "We're already here, better get any of those checked out, cleaned and patched up before we go back into battle."

Seongwoo pats himself down and sighs in relief when his hands don't come away sticky with blood. He's had many wounds gone unnoticed in the time that they've been at war, and Youngmin has had to bring him unconscious to the infirmary more than once. When he came to, Donghyun was always working on him, hands covered in blood up to his elbow with the occasional smear of blood on his forehead where he reached a hand up to swipe at his sweat. 

"Please be careful," Seongwoo remembers Donghyun saying once, "And please take care of Youngmin hyung." They'd both looked at him then, leaning against one of the tent supports forlornly, shoulders hunched in a rare display of fatigue. "He tries to be strong for all of you and he won't admit it even if he's upset, hurt or tired. He doesn't want to burden you all." Donghyun sank in the chair beside Seongwoo's makeshift bed. "He tries so hard. I don't want him to get hurt, take care of him for me, please?" 

Their conversation had ended there because someone in another bed had begun to scream in pain and Donghyun had to hurry off, squaring his shoulders to save yet another life. 

"I'm fine," Seongwoo nods towards the bloodstain on Youngmin's uniform. "But what about you?" 

"Me?" Youngmin sounds vaguely surprised and looks down his front. "Oh, there is blood. I don't think it's mine." Seongwoo pulls off his glove and reaches a (hopefully clean) hand to the patch of blood and pulls away in surprise when Youngmin hisses sharply in pain. "Maybe it's mine." 

"You're hurt," Seongwoo's voice shakes. He looks at Youngmin, suddenly aware of the lack of colour in his face and the slight tremble in his knees, "Let's get Donghyun to look at you." 

Youngmin shakes his head firmly. "Let Donghyun check on Sewoon first," he says stubbornly, "I'll be fine waiting." Seongwoo wants to shout at Youngmin or smack some sense into him, but he settles for dragging a weak Youngmin into the tent and demanding him to be checked over. "Seongwoo, other people need the attention more," Youngmin tries to hush him, but the rapid blood loss and sudden realisation of the injury hits him hard and he can barely lift a hand. 

Donghyun looks like he wants to stop work on Sewoon and hurry over to save Youngmin, but he looks at Sewoon's pinched expression and continues work, knowing full well that Youngmin would rather Sewoon get saved first. "Donghan, can you help Youngmin?" Donghyun gestures to the sterile tray of medical tools. 

Donghan nods and hurries over to where Seongwoo is standing with Youngmin leaning heavily on him and slowly, they both ease Youngmin onto a stretcher. "Let's see where you're hurt," Donghan hums, carefully unbuttoning Youngmin's uniform and pulling up his shirt. He winces. "That's... quite a bad wound," he whispers softly, "How didn't you notice it all the way here?" 

"I don't know," Youngmin says weakly, "Just don't let Donghyun know. He'll kill me even before I die of this injury." 

"You're not going to die," Seongwoo says sharply. "Don't even think it."  

Donghan picks up some disinfectant and pours it onto a clean cloth, slowly swiping it around the edges of the cut. "This is going to sting," Donghan warns, "But I have to wipe out all this gunk to see if anything is stuck in that wound. The last thing we want is shrapnel or soil, or even worse, glass." His eyebrows furrow in concentration as he slowly wipes away all the dried blood and soil that got stuck in the wound as they made their way back to camp. Youngmin groans in pain then begins to cough. "Seongwoo, could you grab some water for him to drink?" 

Seongwoo goes and grabs a cup of water just as Donghan pulls out some cloth for Youngmin to bite down on. "I found some glass shards and shrapnel in there," Seongwoo can faintly register Donghan asking, "Were you nearby a bomb explosion?" 

He doesn't hear Youngmin's answer, and he doesn't think he wants to. Thinking about Youngmin being near a bomb as it goes off is a bit too much for him to handle and he breathes in harshly through his nose, choking slightly on the tangy scent of blood and gunpowder in the air. Seongwoo doesn't want to think about how he could lose Youngmin and how it doesn't seem so unlikely at all. 

He brings over the cup of water and Youngmin takes it gladly, drinking it all after Donghan has finished pulling out the last bit of shrapnel caught in the wound. Seongwoo helps Donghan to bandage the wound, slowly wrapping the gauze around Youngmin's stomach. He averts his eyes from the tiny patch of red seeping through the initial layer of bandages and he covers it with more and more layers. 

Seongwoo thinks he hates the war. It's nothing short of cruel, destroying the lives of people who'd never asked to be involved. Youngmin never asked to be involved, yet here he is, bleeding out of his stomach, sleeping fitfully as Donghan feeds him painkillers that will not help ease the ache of losing friends just made and then lost. Seongwoo is lucky that he still has Youngmin and Sewoon. Injured, but safe nonetheless.

Donghyun's choked sob as he stares at Youngmin's sleeping form reaches Seongwoo's ears and he shakes his head. When will the war end?

 

===== ∞ =====

 

In all honesty, while infiltrating the enemy camp seems like a good idea, it certainly is not for the ones sent on the particular mission. Daniel knows it's practically suicidal since the enemy is sure to have a lot more people back at base camp and can call for reinforcements easily. But the war takes away your choices, and you have to listen to what the higher ups say, so here he is, crawling through long grass to get to the enemy camp. 

A small lit-up tent is the only indication of the enemy camp's location. It's the medic tent. Completely off-limits. 

He suppresses a scream as he swats a giant fly away from his face. His superior gives the signal and they trudge forward slowly, using the shadows as cover as they surge forward on light feet. Someone walks out to wash some medical supplies and spies the unnatural rustling of the grass from their movements. His eyes widen in fear as he rushes back into the medic tent and the next thing Daniel knows, there are spotlights flooding the area and his superior is swearing loudly. 

"Go! Go!" He hears the captain say, but for the strangest reason, he isn't telling them to retreat. He's telling them to  _advance_. His captain grabs Daniel's collar and tugs him to his feet and forces him forward. Daniel stumbles but continues on ahead, a little disoriented. 

"What's going on?" He asks Patrick, a tall gangly man who looks no more than 18. 

"Uh, we have to advance and kill as many people as we can." Patrick trembles. "I think I might die. I'm scared." 

"Don't be." Daniel says quickly, raising his rifle and shooting someone down. "If you are, you can't think quickly and then you _will_ die. Best to tell yourself that you're confident even when you're not- watch your back!" 

Patrick turns around and punches an enemy soldier in the face before he can get stabbed in the shoulder. "Thanks, pal." 

"Anytime," Daniel pants and runs ahead. There are more soldiers pouring out of the buildings, more than they had estimated and Daniel feels his heart sink. He's not going to make it. He turns to yell for his captain, but he's nowhere to be found. "Blast it." The coward had run off the moment the enemy forces called in reinforcements. A heavy hand drops onto his shoulder and forces him to kneel. Around him, the members of his platoon are facing similar fates, dropping to their knees in defeat. 

The enemy's leader, a short stocky man with an imposing aura barks out orders in a language Daniel doesn't understand. He is roughly forced to his feet and dragged away by a single soldier who looks a little worse for wear. A gun is cocked at his head and Daniel knows he's going to die. He thinks of Jihoon, too young to enlist in the army, waiting at home for him. He imagines him getting the news of his death, imagines how his face will crumple in horror and how he'll dissolve into tears. He imagines the hate the younger will harbour for his people, the Koreans and he shakes his head. 

He cannot do that to Jihoon. 

He looks straight at his captor, praying to any God who will hear him that they'll allow this soldier to understand. Their eyes meet, and Daniel recognises him as someone who he'd seen on the battlefield earlier, helping to carry his injured friend back to camp. He'd seen his own despair reflected back at him in those glassy eyes and he'd trembled violently, feeling the weight of reality crash down upon him for the first time. 

"Please," Daniel gasps in English, the only language he's ever known. "Let me free. I have someone, who I love, who I need to get back to. Do you understand?" The soldier stares back, not a single twitch giving away his inner thoughts. "You must- please- let me go."

 

===== ★ =====

 

" _I have someone, who I love, who I need to get back to._ " Seongwoo understands that part, but he keeps his gun steady. He has to kill this man. He's the enemy, it's either the soldier or himself. 

His words echo in his head, bouncing off the walls and Seongwoo suddenly falters, reaching a hand to pat at his chest. 

He thinks of Donghyun sending Youngmin off out into the battlefield again when he's all healed with a sweet smile hiding a pained grimace and trembling hands, wondering if each kiss, each farewell, is going to be their last. An unbidden picture comes to mind, Donghyun bending over Youngmin, pressing a hand to his mouth to contain the cries that will wake Youngmin and slow his healing as he traces careful fingers around the bandages and numerous scars that litter Youngmin's torso.

He thinks of the worn picture Sewoon carries in his helmet, that he pulls out when there is a rare quiet moment, pressing a soft kiss to the paper before tucking it away swiftly before it can be ripped from it. He thinks of the forlorn looks that Sewoon spares to the smiling man in the picture, and the soft prayers he hears for that man's safety, far, far away from the devastation of war. 

He thinks of the creases formed by worry in Donghan's temple as he counts down the never ending days to the end of the war, until he can go find his fiancé again. " _I'm just worried,_ " He remembers Donghan saying, " _That I'll die before I get married. We were going to, actually, until I got called away. I didn't want to come, but, he told me to_." 

He remembers this, and takes a second look at the brunette soldier kneeling before him, eyes squeezed shut in fear, and sees someone who could have been his friend in another place, another time. When there isn't a war tearing apart relationships and preventing new ones from flourishing. "Please spare my life," The soldier repeats, "I have someone... who's waiting for me, back at home."

He turns those watery eyes on Seongwoo and his breath hitches, recognition swimming in his eyes. "Please let me live." His head hangs low and his shoulders shake. "Please let me go home." 

Seongwoo blinks once, twice, and then he raises his rifle. And then lowers it. He looks over his shoulder and bends down. "Go," He begins, whispering in Korean to the soldier who he knows cannot possibly understand him, "Get home to your love safely." He pulls the dogtags from around the enemy soldier's neck and stands quickly, helping the surprised man to his feet. "You're free," Seongwoo repeats, "Go before the others find you." 

The soldier doesn't know Korean, but he seems to understand all the same. Soon, he bows at Seongwoo quickly before he's scrambling off, disappearing into the darkness without a trace. Seongwoo rolls the dogtags between his fingers and loops them around his neck. He raises his rifle and fires a shot into the sky. He pretends it's a wishing star, and clasps his hands together to wish for a safe passage for those who need it.

As he walks back to the infirmary, the dogtags weighing heavily against his chest, Youngmin catches his eye, gaze burning holes into him. Seongwoo never fails to get startled by the unsettling depth that Youngmin's gaze holds, eyes shining bright as he nods slowly at Seongwoo, as if knowing exactly what Seongwoo has just done. Or, rather, has not done. 

 

===== ∞ =====

 

It is a week after the close shave with death, that Daniel meets the strange soldier that spared his life and took his dogtags.

Enemy planes crash right into their headquarters and it's a mess of getting the higher-ranking officials out and to safety before the planes can blow up, and it's especially important to get to the surviving pilots and get them out of the wreck. They can be tortured for information or used as bargaining chips, and Daniel wants neither to happen to the soldier in question, so he hurries over to make sure that soldier isn't among those who's just flown into the headquarters. 

Daniel climbs the stairs two at a time, hurrying to the debris. He stops at the first one and looks for any sign of life. The pilot is dead, a jagged piece of metal from the building's infrastructure penetrating his body. His head lolls to the side at an unnatural angle and Daniel keeps his lips pressed tightly shut to tamp down on any bile that might rise up in his throat.

He's never handled death particularly well.

Daniel carefully reaches over to the co-pilot and stops. The soldier's eyes are bright with life, daring him to turn him in to the authorities.

He recognises this face, the three moles that make up the constellation that Daniel will not stop seeing everywhere; in the night sky, in the grass, burned into the back of his eyelids. He recognises his own dogtags with his name on it glinting in the flashing warning lights of the plane. "I'm going to return the favour," Daniel whispers firmly, "And make sure you get back safely too." He reaches for the seatbelt and unbuckles it, wrapping two firm hands around his armpits and trying to pull the man out of the seat. 

The soldier lets out a pained groan and Daniel stops, looking down to where a jagged piece of metal has crushed his leg. "You can't possibly walk with that leg, and we need to free you," Daniel mutters to himself. 

"I push, you lift?" The soldier says in broken English, making Daniel stare at him in surprise. He nods. 

"Yes, that could work. Put your back into it," He urges, "Let's make sure you get to go home too." They push until the metal gives way and finally bends enough for Daniel to hoist the man out of the airplane wreck. He ties a quick splint with the soldier's uniform around his leg to disguise his status as an enemy soldier and protect his leg until he returns to camp. 

Slowly, Daniel walks the soldier around the building, avoiding the troops until they come to a small hole in the fencing that surround his camp. "This is where we say goodbye." Daniel smiles, and realises that he hasn't done that in a while. Nothing about war could bring the smallest smiles to his lips previously. "I hope I don't see you again in such circumstances. Maybe when this is all over, we'll have a drink together."

Footsteps behind them signal the approach of Daniel's countrymen and he quickly helps the soldier through the gap in the fence. "This is as much as I can help you, sorry about it," Daniel apologises, "I hope you live." 

"You... too," The soldier says slowly, Korean accent coming out thick in his words. He turns away from Daniel, hobbling with much difficulty, wincing with each step. Daniel takes a step forward to help, but then, he falters. Someone calls for him and he swivels his head around in the general direction of the camp. When his eyes fall on the enemy soldier again, he is motioning for Daniel to leave, hands making small shooing motions. 

Daniel's eyes linger on the enemy soldier for a few heartbeats before he's turning and fleeing, running to wherever he's called. His only prayer now is for that enemy soldier to get back safely. 

 

===== ★ =====

 

An advantage of crash-landing in enemy territory, completely pulverising your left leg and somehow managing to make it back alive, is that you'll earn mad respect and a shiny medal of Bravery. A disadvantage, of course, is completely pulverising your left leg, having to amputate it and carry on life with a prosthetic leg. 

But Seongwoo isn't complaining. He's alive, and that's what matters. He's left with a few regrets after the war has ended, for example, getting discharged before all of his friends and leaving them to fend for themselves in the war without him. Of course, he was there to support them when they came back and found everything changed and were left with nothing. 

Youngmin still hasn't forgiven him for losing his left leg. Donghyun's only mad at him by default. Donghan's pretty indifferent, Seongwoo thinks that he's happier that he managed to stay alive. 

And as for one particular friend (who Seongwoo belatedly realised that he knows neither the age nor name of), he's not sure what happened to him. Or if he's still alive. Seongwoo sure hopes he's alive. On nights when the cold metal of the prosthetic chafes his leg uncomfortably, or when he feels phantom pains from where his leg used to be and reaches a hand down to clutch at a non-existent leg, he comforts himself by entertaining the thought of his unlikely ally having made his way home safely, back with his loved ones, warm and happy. 

Sometimes, it isn't enough. Seongwoo tends to take midnight walks, to clear his head and exercise his joints. Things you can do with a prosthetic leg become limited, for instance, dancing is completely out of the question. He can't pop with half of his leg made out of stiff metal. Seongwoo inhales the fresh crisp air deeply. He makes his way to his favourite bench in the park, one dedicated to Sewoon from Youngmin for taking a bullet for him (and Jaehwan dedicated a tomato plant right beside it to thank Youngmin for dragging his boyfriend back from the battlefield and not leaving him there to bleed to death).

There's someone already there when Seongwoo gets to the bench. The stranger's backview is unsettlingly familiar and Seongwoo intuitively knows who it is. He slides onto the bench beside the stranger and smiles. "Never expected to see you here." 

"Nor you," The stranger says in impeccable Korean. "Although, this is your country." 

Seongwoo looks over in surprise. The enemy soldier is smiling wide at him, teeth poking out so he resembles a bunny. His hair is a sandy blonde and cut stylishly, bangs messily styled across his forehead. It's a little strange to see him out of uniform, since the only image Seongwoo has of him is in a uniform, slightly dusty, with patches of dried blood everywhere, a small cut under his eye, somewhere out in an open field. "Your Korean has improved. You couldn't speak a lick of it when I first met you." 

"5 years is a long time. I pick things up relatively fast," The soldier says, fiddling with the hem of his pink shirt sleeve. "I never got your name." 

"Seongwoo." He grins, flipping out the dogtags from under his shirt. They clink together and Seongwoo juggles them from one hand to the other. He's never taken it off ever since he got it from the solider that fateful night many days ago. "I'm Ong Seongwoo. And you are, D...aniel?" He hums. "Daniel. That's a nice name. Very English." 

Daniel scratches the back of his head. "How's life holding up for you?" 

"Good," Seongwoo sighs. He pulls back his pant leg to stare at the reflective surface of the prosthetic leg. He pats it once, twice, imagining the feel of warm skin instead of cold metal. "Could be better. Still single. Still alive." Daniel's words from so many nights before, when they first met, echo in his head. "What about you? That loved one you talked about on the field? How is she?"

" _He_ ," Daniel corrects. He looks down, silent for a few moments. "We broke up. He didn't wait for me," A bittersweet smile forms on his face, "I never expected him to anyway. I couldn't have." He shivers when a sudden breeze blows. "It's okay. I'll find someone else." 

Seongwoo stands and holds a hand out to Daniel. "Want to talk about it over some beer?" He winks. "There's a good place nearby." 

Daniel takes his hand and grins. "Sure, lead the way."

 

===== ☁ =====

 

Later, when the press find out, they swarm Daniel's house for 4 days, trying to get an interview. Their phones keep blowing up and even Donghyun sends an angry text to Daniel's phone to tell him about the press startling his husband with their bright flashes. _He jumped 5-feet into the air,_  Donghyun's text reads in all-caps, _I honestly didn't know Youngmin could scream that loudly!!_

Seongwoo laughs and rests his head on Daniel's shoulder when he tells him about it. He calmly takes Daniel's phone and shuts it off. "I've only agreed to an interview with one newspaper, and that's Jaehwan's. Is that okay with you?" 

"Shouldn't you have asked before agreeing?" Daniel chides as he bumps his nose against Seongwoo's. "Doesn't matter. I trust Jaehwan not to exaggerate our relationship." He blinks. "Too much." 

"Sure," Seongwoo laughs, "As if our story isn't dramatic enough." Daniel smiles. Their romance certainly isn't conventional, and he knew it the day Seongwoo confessed to him by hiding a promise ring in his turkey sandwich. That was the day Daniel saw the interior of a Korean hospital for the first time in his life. 

Daniel looks at Seongwoo casually throwing a plate of sandwiches out for the starving reporters camping out on their lawn. His eyes trace the constellation on Seongwoo cheeks when Seongwoo turns back and slams the window shut, guffawing at the paparazzi's confusion at the sandwiches raining down around them. He's so in love with this man and his antics.

"You know," Seongwoo says, heading towards where Daniel is settled comfortably on the couch after he's kept the silver platter back into the cupboards, "When I saw you, I thought that you were like me. That you just wanted to go home and that you just wanted the war to be over." He pauses. "I nearly shot you. But I did think that we could have been friends." He smiles at Daniel and Daniel melts a little inside. The brightness of Seongwoo's happy grin never fails to make him feel all fluttery inside, even after 2 years have passed since they found each other on the park bench. 

His hand naturally gravitates to Seongwoo's and grabs it tight. "Well, look how that turned out. We're closer than friends," Daniel coos happily, thinking of the ring he has stowed away in his cupboard to be stuffed into Seongwoo's apple pie some other day and mentally prepares himself for the fit Jaehwan is going to throw when he finds out. 

"Are we really?" Seongwoo jokes. "Come on, we've got to get ready." He stands up and nudges Daniel's arm with his socked foot. "We have to go meet Youngmin and Donghyun. We're supposed to celebrate Donghyun's promotion. He's been upgraded to Head Doctor. Hurry now, don't be lazy."

Daniel chuckles and stands up, trailing after Seongwoo, reminiscing about how they went from meeting each other on the wrong side of the battlefield to dating each other, in 8 short years. 

He did eventually manage to go home from the war to his love. Just, a different love than he anticipated.

**Author's Note:**

> hi i wrote a little something because despite exams i thought of this and i had to write it or i'd forget you see that would be sad  
> anyway i just read a fic where it was winkdeep centric and then samuel and woojin were like enemies and guanlin died and then jonghyun got killed by dongho even though dongho was clearly holding back and then minki killed hyungseob like wtf mother rabbit no and then woojinnie was an idiot clearly and ongniel went down so beautifully but anyways my boys all got killed and here we are  
> MXM debuted!!! (title is from im the one lol) no one can keep youngdongpo from each other lol what a thousand-year friendship. even what was said during broduce still stands lol, just look for a cherry-headed youngmin and donghyun and sewoon are sure to be around
> 
> a side note,, why havent jangjun and sewoon said anything about each other they were classmates at least say hi or something guys,,,  
> edit: they have a selca together lets rejoice


End file.
